Author: thesouregg

This right here is my super indulgent, super easy weekend breakfast when I’m in the mood for something sweet. It takes a matter of minutes to put together and it keeps me going for most of the day. The best thing is it’s full of protein and antioxidants, completely non processed and refined sugar free!

Ingredients:

2 tbsp yogurt or milk

(Greek or non dairy alternative) I usually use Coyo vanilla yogurt or Nush foods natural almond milk yogs, if I’m in a dairy mood I’ll have Yeo Valley Greek yogurt

I recently made this tandoori chicken salad which was the perfect combination of sweet and spicy. Indian meals are generally high carb and this was a great low carb alternative. Give it a go!

Serves 2

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

4 organic chicken thighs

2 tbsp organic full fat Greek yogurt

Juice of 1/2 lemon

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

Thumb size piece of ginger (finely chopped)

Half a red chilli (finely chopped)

1/2 tsp each of the following;

Ground cumin and coriander

Garam masala

Turmeric

Salt

For the salad:

Organic spinach leaves

Handful of fresh coriander and dill

Pumpkin seeds

1 clementine, peeled and sliced

Crushed coriander seeds

1/2 tin of chickpeas

Asparagus spears

1 red onion

1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas

1 tbsp ghee

1 tsp cumin seeds

1/2 tsp hot paprika

Method

For the chicken, wash and trim the excess fat off the thighs. In a bowl mix together all of the marinade ingredients and massage into the chicken thighs so they are coated well. Set aside for at least 30 minutes or overnight in the fridge.

Prepare the salad – toss together the spinach leaves, crushed coriander and pumpkin seeds, clementine slices and fresh coriander and dill. On a medium to high heat fry the chickpeas, peas, asparagus spears (chopped) and sliced red onion in hot ghee with the cumin seeds and paprika. This will only take 5 minutes or so as they are all very quick to cook. Once slightly charred and the asparagus is cooked through pour over the spinach base.

Grill the chicken thighs in a griddle pan for 5-7 minutes on each side until cooked through. Remove from the pan and cut into slices. Mix this together with the salad and serve immediately whilst it is still warm.

It doesn’t really need any dressing but you could make a raita to accompany this with Greek yogurt, grated cucumber and dill leaves. Or you could have it with a side of naan bread!

I am a Project Manager working for a Local Authority in the very heart of London. My working day is usually busy and I’m rarely in one place.

My alarm goes off at 6am and I wake up to some very quick morning stretches to get my body moving. I always have breakfast at home and always within 20-30 minutes of waking up – this works best for me.

I start the morning with a glass of warm water with a squeeze of lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, cinnamon and raw honey. Following this I’ll either have a decaf tea or coffee with hemp milk.

Breakfast is always something that’s quick to prepare or that I’ve prepared overnight. Some examples are:

Homemade granola with chia pudding or hemp milk topped with some banana and blueberries

I usually leave the house by 7 and aim to be at my desk for 8am. My commute consists of a half hour train journey followed by a 25 minute walk to my office. During the day I tend to have site meetings which I will usually walk to if they are nearby.

I drink around 2L of water during the day, one green tea in the morning – usually a Pukka range and organic rooibos tea.

Lunch is pretty much the same salad with a slight variation everyday and every week and surprisingly I never get bored of it. I prepare my salads in batches of two days and the main ingredients are always:

Mixed organic salad leaves

Pumpkin and sunflower seeds

Beetroot

Tomatoes

Half an avocado

Hummus

Peas or soybeans

And I tend to throw in some extra veg which I batch roast on a Sunday morning – anything from broccoli, cauliflower to red peppers or artichokes.

Depending on my day I will usually have lunch around midday with colleagues in my team. During the summer months we get to enjoy sitting by the river and soaking in the sun rays which is a very welcome break during the day.

I love fruit but do limit my intake due to the sugar. I eat citrus fruits, berries, apples and pears. I’ll usually have an apple in the afternoon, a clementine or some kiwi and mixed berries.

Let’s not forget nuts! I eat two Brazil nuts everyday to get my intake of selenium, a couple of walnuts, almond and pistachios mixed with some raisins for that afternoon pick me up.

I leave work between 4:30 – 5pm and walk 25 minutes back to the station. When I get home I’m ready to cook dinner. Dinner is always quick during the week but freshly made and as healthy as possible. You can find some of my dinner recipes under the Mains heading on this page. I cook organic chicken or oily fish once a week and the rest of the meals are pretty much meat free.

I finish the day with a cup of vanilla rooibos and a piece of dark chocolate and head to bed for 10pm.

With Christmas around the corner and the cold evenings well and truly settled in a roast dinner is the perfect meal! I’ve played around with this method and think I’ve got it on point now!

Ingredients:

2 whole organic chickens

Zest of 2 lemons

Juice of 1 lemon

1 whole garlic bulb

2 red onions

Knob of butter

Olive oil

Handful of fresh thyme

Method:

Preheat the oven to 120C.

Peel and crush half of the garlic bulb and combine in a bowl with the lemon zest, lemon juice, butter, few glugs of olive oil, salt and pepper.

Place the chickens in either two separate roasting trays or one large one, using a sharp knife pierce the chicken all over. Pour the marinade over the two chickens and using your hands rub into the skin. Place the remaining garlic cloves, unpeeled, into the roasting tray and peel the onions, cut into quarters and place in the tray.

Fill approx 1/4 of the tray with water, cover and seal well with foil and place in the oven for 2 hours.

After 2 hours, turn the temperature up to 140C and cook for another hour.

Remove the chicken from the oven and remove the foil, place back in the oven and turn the temperature up to 200C and cook for half hour to crisp up the skin.

Once cooked, remove from the oven, place foil back on the chicken and allow to rest for half hour before serving.

This is a great meal to cook when you are short of time but want something healthy! You can make the pesto beforehand or it’s so quick and easy to do whilst the spaghetti is boiling.

Ingredients:

Wholewheat spaghetti

Almond pesto – this time round I didn’t add the avocado but if you want a creamier texture then feel free to

Handful of cherry tomatoes

1 small red onion

Handful of rocket leaves

Olive oil

Salt and pepper to season

Method

Put the spaghetti to boil – I always add salt and olive oil to the water.

Whilst the spaghetti is boiling make the almond pesto using the recipe in the link above.

Cut the cherry tomatoes into halves and slice the red onion, fry these in on a medium heat in some olive oil.

Once the spaghetti is cooked, drain and rinse in cold water slightly to remove the starch but not so much that it makes the spaghetti go cold. Mix in the almond pesto, red onion and tomatoes and a handful of rocket leaves.

Serve immediately and you can sprinkle some feta or Parmesan on top of you wish! ﻿

Method
Wash and cut the chicken in half length ways – this halves the cooking time and still keeps the breast juicy when cooked. Marinate the chicken with a good gulg of olive oil, a sprinkle of oregano, juice of 1 lemon, salt and pepper to season. Set aside.

Put the watercress in a salad bowl and add thinly sliced radishes and approximately 4 tablespoons of the pesto – depending on how much you want it dressed.

Wash and trim the ends of the asparagus, heat a griddle pan on medium to high heat and add a knob of butter. Cook the asparagus till charred, once ready cut into bite size pieces and add to the salad.

Cut the courgette into thin ribbons with a potato peeler or a thin knife and in the same griddle pan add the ribbons and cook till charred. Once ready add to the salad.

Now cook the chicken, add the sliced chicken breast to the griddle pan on high heat with some olive oil and cook on each side until brown with a grilled effect. It will take around 10 minutes to cook through but check the thickest part of the breast by cutting through. Once all is cooked slice the breast into slices and add to the salad. Top the salad with the toasted flaked almonds and crumble the feta. Mix it all up and it’s ready to serve! Taste best warm!

Tip: to make it more filling you can add cous cous or steamed baby potatoes

Roasted chickpeas are great way to get your fibre and protein intake. They taste great as an accompaniment to a meal or scattered over a salad!

Ingredients:

400g can chickpeas (I use Sainsburys So Organic range)

1/2 tsp each of the following:

Ground cumin

Smoked paprika

Crushed coriander seeds

Salt and black pepper

A few glugs of olive oil

Method:

There are two ways you can cook these, if using the oven turn it on to 220c, if using the cooker put a dry non stick pan on medium heat.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and put them in a bowl. Toss all the dry ingredients and olive oil with the chickpeas until they are fully coated.

Place the coated chickpeas evenly on a tray lined with baking paper and put them on the middle shelf of the oven. They take about 15 minutes to cook but toss them around regularly and keep a very close eye on them as they can start to pop! When they look like they are beginning to dry out and have a crisp finish remove them from the oven but again be careful as they may still pop! I’ve started covering the tray in foil for the first 10 minutes or so and then roasting them uncovered for the last 5 minutes I find this prevents some of the popping but they aren’t as crispy so it depends how you want the texture.

If cooking them in the pan add them to the heated non stick pan and cover with a lid. Turn the heat up to high and regularly toss the pan to ensure they are evenly cooked. Same as above, watch out for popping and timing depends on just how crispy you want them!

Once done, sprinkle on your salad or have it as a side dish with a squeeze of fresh lemon juice!

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